Various packaging containers and methods are currently in commercial use. For example, it is known to use “clamshell” packaging and “blister” packaging for enclosing various products and carrying or containing associated product information. Blister packaging generally comprises a transparent, concave plastic housing or “blister” that is attached to a generally flat paperboard backing or card. The “blister” forms a concave volume for holding products and typically has a peripheral edge or flange that is fully sealed to the backing and provides stiffness to the blister card. The blister, which confines the packaged product, bulges out from the flat paperboard surface. To open the package, the purchaser breaks the seal between the blister and the paperboard backing or makes an opening in the paperboard backing or in the plastic blister. Where the blister is made from transparent plastic, the enclosed product is largely visible, and inserts made of paper and other materials may be placed in the packaging to describe or label the goods or provide instructions. The paperboard backing also serves as a substrate for graphics and/or printed product information.
Clamshell packaging is made from two concave plastic housings or halves that are usually joined at some form of hinge. Such packages may be openable and reclosable in some fashion, although a seal of some kind may be used to deter opening until after purchase or for tamper evidence. “Permanently” sealed clamshell packaging is also available. This is generally formed from two clear plastic “bubble” housings that may be formed, either joined at a hinge edge or completely separate. After product insertion, the two housings are sealed together at mating edges through various means, such as radio frequency, sonic vibrations or electrical resistance, used to heat or weld. The permanently sealed packaging generally has to be cut or broken in one or both of the halves in order to access the product. In a clamshell package that is not permanently sealed, the user may access product by breaking a paper or other seal strip or separating a locking structure at the package edge and hinging open the two halves of the shell.
Blister and clamshell packaging have become popular, in part, because they provide product visibility but also because they help deter product theft and tampering. Smaller, high value items are often shoplifting targets, because they are easily pocketed. Placing the small product in a blister package that is too large for easy pocketing helps deter theft. Smaller, high value items in easily opened packages are also subject to tampering or switching. A well-sealed blister package can also deter such behavior or at least provide tamper evidence.
However, there are several drawbacks associated with the use of conventional blister packaging. The transparent plastic compartment permits product viewing, but its attachment to the paperboard card generally only permits product display by hanging from a hole or notch; the packaged product will usually not stand stably on its own for product display. To the extent the plastic blister defines most of the product-containing volume, this plastic material may be viewed as less eco-friendly than a paperboard package. Further, the flat paperboard backing limits the possible geometric configurations in such a container largely to the shape of the plastic blister, and the package efficiently uses the package volume only when the product has a least one major flat surface. This may limit the size of the product that may be placed in such a container, or increase the amount of plastic required to contain larger products. Furthermore, as the paperboard is always flat, the plastic blister represents the only opportunity to adapt the package to a product shape that is not flat; thus, a new thermoform mold may be required for different product sizes and shapes.
Clamshell packages have disadvantages too. The processes for placing an insert inside and for sealing the clamshell together are generally expensive and time consuming. Furthermore, such sealed, all-plastic clamshells also tend to be harder to open by the consumer (after purchase) than other varieties of packaging. Such plastic packaging is typically rigid, whereby a knife or scissors being used to open the package by penetrating the plastic blister may bounce or slip off the package and cut or otherwise injure the consumer. When cut open, the plastic housing often has sharp edges that may pose a risk to the consumer. Furthermore, the plastic housing is often not easily recyclable and may be viewed as less environmentally friendly than a package of paperboard.
Because blister packaging using flat paperboard cards has become highly popular, there is a significant installed base of equipment for component feeding, loading, assembly and sealing such packaging. Much of this equipment has multiple stations where tooling specific to the package may be installed, to perform the steps of introducing package components, loading product and effecting sealing. It would be beneficial to expand the range of packaging that can be handled by such machines with minimal tooling changes.
What is needed is an improved blister package. It is preferably one that can be filled and sealed on existing blister packaging equipment with no changes in equipment or simple, standard tooling changes.